A twist in the story
by hopelessromantic4life
Summary: If Harry and Hermione had met before the first book said they did, the series would have turned out VERY differently.
1. Chapter 1

**Yep. A Harry Potter Story. Again. And it changes the storyline. Again.*gasps* I've become a cliche! *passes out*  
><strong> **Hehehe, _YEAH _****I'm perfectly fine, in case you were wondering. (You probably weren't) **

**Warning(s): A LOT of Harry&Hermione shipping ahead. ****AND**** OOC-ness. This story starts when Harry and Hermione are nine years old.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I, hopelessromantic4life, do not own the Harry Potter series or any of it's characters. All rights go to the author, J.K Rowling.**

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><p>"Get back here, loser!" Dudley yelled, waddling as fast as he could-which wasn't very fast at all- after his much skinnier cousin, his friends in toe. Harry just kept running through the library, just hoping he could manage to get away. He narrowly turned the corner of a bookshelf...<p>

Just as another girl around his age did the same. Harry collided into her, sending the them colliding into the floor, with Harry on top of her.

"Oh! I'm really sorry about that!" Harry apologized, blushing furiously "Hehe, didn't see ya there"

"It's ok; I wasn't really looking where_ I_ was going, either" she said calmly, though her face was also slightly tinged with pink. Harry stood up, extending his hand to the girl. She took it, albeit with slight hesitation, and hauled herself back to her feet. At this point, Dudley and his gang managed to catch up with Harry.

"Oooh. What have we here?" Piers sneered. Harry realized with a jolt that he was still holding the girl's hand. He quickly let go, his face growing even more red.

"Go away" the girl snapped, glaring at the group of bullies. Dudley stiffened, unused to having someone stand up to him, then stilled himself and smirked.

"Why should we, beaver? We want to be here" he taunted in reference to her slightly buck teeth. Her eyes widened in hurt, then narrowed.

"I said 'GO AWAY!'" she screeched, forgetting she was in the library. As she could see was red; seething red rage.

What happened next was certainty magical, though it's outcome definitely was not pretty.

Books began floating, hanging in the air. The group of bullies stared in awe, but the books were quickly hurled through the air at them. The first hit Dudley's forehead, puncturing the skin. Blood began to stream down his face like a river. Dudley screamed, turning on his heels and running with his friends right behind him. The books followed them.

"Woah" Harry breathed, feeling a mixture of fear and awe. The girl sighed, relaxing. In the distance, you could hear the books drop.

"How did you do that?" he asked her, somehow not fearing that she might do the same to him.

"I-I don't know" she said slowly, a look of confusion covering her face "I just got really angry and then, _BAM!_ it happened"

"Huh. Well, thanks for that, anyway" Harry told her. The girl gave him an odd look.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised.

"No one has ever really stood up to Dudley, especially not for me" Harry explained. Her expression softened, and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well then, these people are total jerks" she joked.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" the librarian yelled from across the room. Harry flinched, though he knew she couldn't see them.

"We might wanna run. Come on!" Harry said, grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her out the back door.

How sad was it that he knew exactly where to hide?

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><p>The two panted as they reached the safe area, dropping to their knees.<p>

"*pant* Why *pant* are we *pant* here?" The girl asked.

"The teachers would find us there and instantly blame us. They wouldn't care what our argument is" Harry informed her "They simply can't know we were there and we're in the clear"

"Ah" was his only response.

"My name's Harry, by the way" he tried. The girl smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you, Harry. My name is Hermione Granger" she said holding her hand out "I'm new at this school" Harry grinned and took her hand.

"Well, Hermione, I think this is the starting of a beautiful friendship. I'm sorry if that sounded stupid" He told her. Hermione chuckled.

"It didn't sound stupid at all, Harry. It just makes you sound mature" she said.

"Thanks, Mione" he told her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Mione?" she questioned. Harry shrugged.

"I thought it sounded cool" he answered.

"We should probably head back to the school" Hermione said, ignoring him.

"Wanna race?" Harry asked her playfully.

"Sure. On your mark, get set, GO!" Hermione exclaimed, running towards the school.

"Hey! wait for me, Mione!" Harry shouted, chasing after his new friend.

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><p><strong><em>DAW!<em> Aren't they adorable? Well, they are for now, anyways. Just wait till they grow up a little. Hehehe. **

**Well, see ya later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ah, I love writing. *giggles* 8D **

**On with the story!**

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><p><strong>One year after Harry and Hermione met, on Dudley's birthday. <strong>

"Wake up! I won't have you ruining Duddy's birthday!" Aunt Petunia screeched through the door of Harry's cupboard.

"Ugh" Harry groaned, rolling out of bed. He had dreamed of the flying motorcycle again last night. It had been a good dream, but _of course _aunt Petunia_ had_ to disrupt him.

"Are you up yet?!" the she-devil exclaimed, rapping on the door so hard, Harry was almost surprised it didn't fall off of it's hinges.

"Nearly" he grunted, grabbing for his glasses. They were a _slightly _newer pair; Hermione had threatened to call the police on his aunt and uncle if they didn't get him new ones.

Ah, Hermione. Harry has nearly forgotten how he managed to survive the Dursleys without her. Hermione listened to him; she always had his back; and she was willing to lie to, beat up and threaten others simply to protect Harry. Most men would be embarrassed by this fact, but Harry was perfectly fine with it. After all, he'd do the same for her.

"Harry! Get up!" Dudley called from the safety of the kitchen. Ever since Hermione had become Harry's friend, Dudley had avoided him a lot. Not all of the time, but most. Harry quickly got dressed, pulled a spider off of his socks and went into the dining area.

"Comb your hair!" uncle Vernon barked by means of greeting. Harry rolled his eyes. He'd had more haircuts in a year than Hermione had had in her entire life, but his hair still naturally grew wild.

"Cook the bacon!" aunt Petunia snapped at him.

"You know I'm not good at cooking" Harry reminded her, earning himself a huff and a shove.

"Just do it! And don't you dare burn it!" she screeched, not listening to him.

_"As always" _Harry thought bitterly. He did his best to keep the fatty bacon from burning, and for the most part he succeeded, burning only two pieces. That meant two burnt pieces for him.

*sigh*

"36. That's only 36 presents" Dudley whined. Harry looked over. His cousin had been counting his birthday presents, and he was about to throw a tantrum because he got less than he did last year. Big deal; last year, Harry had been given an old pair of uncle Vernon's socks.

"There's one more under the tables, Dudders. And we'll buy you two more later today. How's that?" aunt Petunia persuaded. Dudley perked up and began to rip open his presents. The phone rang and aunt Petunia went to answer it. She returned just as Dudley was ripping the wrapping off of a golden watch, looking troubled.

"Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figgs broke her leg. She can't take _him_" she said, giving Harry a venomous look, as though she thought he had planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel bad for poor Mrs. Figgs , but he couldn't help being happy when he remembered it would be another year before he had to look at pictures of all of the lady's cats.

"Well, we could call up your friend, whats her name? Evon, right?" uncle Vernon put in.

"On vacation" aunt Petunia answered.

"We could phone in Marge..." he tried again.

"Don't be silly, Vernon; she hates the boy!" Petunia snapped. They often spoke of Harry like this; as though they had _suddenly _forgotten he was in the room.

"You could just leave me here" Harry put in hopefully. He'd never been allowed to be alone in this house- well, outside of his cupboard, anyway. Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd swallowed a lemon.

"And come back to find the house in flames?" she sneered "No, you will not be left alone in our house"

"Well..." Harry said slyly, playing the ace up his sleeve "You _could _take me to Hermione's house for the day". Aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon visibly paled at the mention of his dear friend. Dudley fell out of his seat, causing a mini earthquake.

"No! We will not be taking you to the house of that bi-" The Dursleys all shouted at once.

"That what?" Hermione's voice sounded behind them. Everyone jumped, spinning to see that Hermione was sitting on the counter with her hands in her lap, smiling with a faked curiosity.

"How did you get in our house?!" uncle Vernon screamed at her.

"I let myself in with the key" Hermione told him, speaking as though she was talking to a tiny toddler "You should really find a new place to hide it; I mean, the flower pot? Really?"

"That's what I keep saying!" Harry exclaimed, laughing. His confidence had tripled now that he had backup.

"You keep your nasty mouth shut, boy!" uncle Vernon snarled at him. Harry smirked.

"Now, now; Is this any way to act in front of a guest?" Harry taunted. He gestured towards Hermione, who waved at them and fluttered her eyes to feign innocence. Harry could have sworn he felt his stomach do a back flip when she did.

_"Focus"_ he thought, mentally slapping himself.

"So... Where are you going to send me today?" Harry asked, struggling to contain his eagerness.

"Um, I suppose we could take him to the zoo... And leave him in the car" aunt Petunia suggested slowly.

"That car is new; he's not sitting it" uncle Vernon retorted. Hermione raised an eyebrow as Dudley started to "cry".

"Wow. If the rest of the school could only see this" she whispered to Harry, who snickered in reply. Uncle Vernon glared at them.

"Oh, Dudders! Don't cry!" aunt Petunia yelled, throwing her arms around her son "Mummy won't let them spoil your special day!"

"Mummy? What, is he six?" Hermione chortled.

"I- don't- want- him- to- come!" Dudley howled "He- always- ruins- everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through a gap in between his mother's arms; something Hermione didn't fail to notice.

"Brat" she coughed loudly. All of the Dursleys glared at her, but before they could say anything, Piers and his mother knocked on the door.

"Goodness; their here!" aunt Petunia yelped, running to get the door. Harry stared at uncle Vernon expectantly.

"Alright; you can come" he grunted, then pointed at Hermione "But _she _can't"

"My parents were planning to take me there, anyway" she said brightly. Harry smiled at her. The Dursleys (and Piers) headed towards the door.

"Thank you, Mione!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his arms around his friend and spinning her around. Hermione laughed.

"No problem, Harry; No problem at all" she responded as Harry placed her back on the floor.

"HURRY UP, BOY!" uncle Vernon yelled through the door.

"I'M COMING, I'M COMING; HOLD YOUR HORSES!" Harry called. Hermione giggled.

"Alright. Let's go" she said, grabbing Harry's hand and towing him through the door.

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><p>Harry had an amazing morning. He and Hermione had stuck together till lunch, talking and laughing when they saw a gorilla that looked remarkably like Dudley, only it wasn't blond. At lunch, Harry got to finish Dudley's first Knickerbocker when he complained there wasn't enough ice cream on it.<p>

Afterwards, Harry felt he honestly should have known better.

They had followed the Dursleys into the snake area, staring at the largest snake there. It could have destroyed uncle Vernon's car in one squeeze, but it currently didn't appear to be in the mood. In fact, it was asleep.

"Make it move!" Dudley commanded his father. Uncle Vernon knocked on the glass, but the snake didn't react.

_"Maybe it's dead" _Harry thought.

"Do it again!" Dudley whined. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly, but nothing happened.

"This is boring!" Piers exclaimed. The Dursleys walked away. Harry and Hermione went up to the exhibit.

"Do you think it's dead?" Hermione whispered. Before Harry could answer, the snake lifted it's head until it's eyes were level with theirs.

It _winked._

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, checked to make sure no one was watching, then they both winked back. The snake looked in the direction of the Dursleys.

_"I get that all the time" _was clearly what the look on it's face meant.

"I know the feeling" Harry murmured.

"Where are you from?" Hermione asked softly. The cobra jabbed it's tail at the sign:

**Boa Constrictor  
><strong>**Brazil **

"Was it nice there?" Harry questioned. The snake jabbed at the sign again:

**This Boa Constrictor was breed in captivity. **

"Oh. My bad" Harry said sheepishly. Hermione punched his arm. The snake almost looked like it was laughing.

"Traitor" Harry pouted.

"GUYS! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THE SNAKE IS DOING!" Piers yelled, running up to the glass. Dudley waddled over.

"Out of the way, you" he snarled, pushing Harry to ground.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out, dropping down to help him up.

"AH!" Piers and Dudley screamed. Harry and Hermione looked up, and what they saw caused their jaws to drop to the floor.

The glass in front of the exhibit had disappeared and the Boa Constrictor was slithering out. It nipped playfully at the boy's heels, causing them to jump back in horror. As it passed them, Harry could've sworn he heard it hiss:

_"Brazil, here I come. Thankssss, Amigosss"_

"Wow" Hermione breathed. Harry nodded.

"What- how?" The zookeeper kept whispering to himself as he made aunt Petunia a strong cup of sweet tea. He tried to give Hermione some, too, but she politely refused.

"I don't really drink tea" she told him sweetly.

"Come on, Hermione. It's time to go" Hermione's mother said.

"See you later?" Hermione asked Harry, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Of course" Harry promised, giving her a quick hug before following the Dursleys and Piers to the car. The two bullies were telling the adults that they had nearly been killed by the snake. Harry snorted.

"Oh please. I was there and the snake only nipped at your heels" he said with an eye roll.

"Harry and Hermione were talking to it; weren't you, Harry?" Piers piped. Harry froze as uncle Vernon turned red.

_"Crap" _Harry thought.

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><p>Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before turning on Harry.<p>

"Go- Cupboard- Stay- No meals" was all the portly man could manage to say before falling into the chair. Aunt Petunia ran to get him a brandy. Harry went quietly, knowing Hermione would figure out the new hiding place for the key and threaten his aunt and uncle until they let him back out. Harry hadn't feared them as much ever since he met Hermione. She was his one and only friend, but he couldn't ask for a better one. They were fiercely loyal to each other and had often gotten themselves into fights to defend the other. The teachers could never catch them; they knew every escape in the school. Life for Harry definitely wasn't perfect, but with Hermione at his side, Harry knew he could face it head on.

And someday, that loyalty would be tested.

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><p><strong>Yay! This is fun! *dances*<br>**


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